Mahoney Family Fund presents:

Reducing Child Abuse by Rethinking Discipline

Friday, March 31, 2023

Complimentary Breakfast 8:00am, Program 8:30-10:00am

Long Meadow Golf Club, 165 Havilah Street, Lowell, MA 01852

RSVP here.

Being a parent is a job that doesn't come with a handbook. As wonderful as it can be, it can also be difficult and frustrating at times. Many parents and caregivers, drawing from their own childhood experiences or feeling there are no other alternatives, resort to physical means for disciplining children. This often well-meaning but abusive behavior can have lifelong negative consequences for a child physically, mentally, and emotionally. There are better options. 

The Mahoney Family Fund proudly presents a free breakfast & educational event highlighting groundbreaking, evidence-based research with front line alternatives for reducing child abuse. Please join us for this in-person, 90-minute program with our panel of experts: 

• Stacie LeBlanc, JD, MEd, co-founder of The Up Institute and executive committee member of the National Initiative to End Corporal Punishment. Stacie is Chair of the National No Hit Zone Committee. She began her career as a child abuse prosecutor in Jefferson Parish more than 30 years ago and became the chief of the Felony Child Abuse Division, began the Family Violence Program and helped open Child Advocacy Centers in rural and urban parishes.

• Shahenda Aly, M.D., a pediatric hospitalist at Lowell General Hospital and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Tufts University. She created the RISE project to help families of special needs children navigate their way through an array of challenges. Originally from Egypt, Dr. Aly offers a global perspective and a passion for ending child abuse. 

• Shirley Pimentel from the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell will discuss how current behavioral issues with the children in their care often stem from maltreatment in the home and how they work with the kids to break the cycle of violence. She has dedicated 20 years to youth development where she has worked with non-profit organizations that focus on a wide array of youth programming in residential homes, youth centers, schools, and community-based organizations.

You will not want to miss this dynamic, ground-breaking event! We encourage audience participation and we welcome all of your questions and comments. RSVP.

Please consider supporting the Mahoney Family Fund's educational outreach to reduce child abuse by making a donation.

Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) result when parents and adults in a child’s life maintain nurturing, loving relationships and when discipline is truly a means to teach and not threaten. Each speaker will discuss the significant consequences of negative discipline as well as positive alternatives that have lasting benefits to the child. 

For more information, contact Maureen Mahoney at maureen@mahoneyfamilyfund.com.

Many thanks to our generous sponsors for the support of this event!

Brad Dee, Farmer & Dee Funeral Services

Andrea & Donald Morgan Trust

Maura Sullivan Norton

"...in memory of Edward D Sullivan MD. Just a nod to his earlier work on the subject in the 60s with your Dad."

[Maureen Mahoney adds the following context: "...this is in reference to the panel my father formed in the 60s to address "the battered child syndrome".  Maura's father, Dr. Sullivan, was on the panel.]

Enterprise Bank

Register for this ZOOM webinar scheduled for Wednesday, October 12 from Noon to 1:00pm ET.

The Mahoney Family Fund is honored to present one of the nation’s most respected experts on the prevention of child abuse, Stacie LeBlanc. Her research and evidence-based data about the harms of hitting children, for punishment, is real and overwhelming. This interactive ZOOM webinar will address:

• the need and critical importance of ending corporal punishment

• will highlight the successful implementation of a NO-HIT Zone at the Coalition for a Better Acre (CBA) in Lowell, MA.

Pam LaRoque, CBA Youth Development Program Coordinator, will be on hand to answer questions about educational programs in place at CBA and specific challenges they face.

Stacie LeBlanc, JD, MEd is the President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), the co-founder of The UP Institute and a CAST instructor at Tulane University. She founded the Audrey Hepburn (CARE) Center and is the former Executive Director of the New Orleans Children's Advocacy Center. Stacie served ten years as a felony child abuse prosecutor, has designed multiple prevention programs including Teens, Sex, and the Law; Dear Parents and Painless Parenting. She chairs the National No Hit Zone Committee. More about Atty. LeBlanc: CV, NoHitZones

The important information in this webinar is presented at no cost to participants.

The Mahoney Family Fund is honored to present one of the nation’s most respected experts on the prevention of child abuse, Stacie LeBlanc. Her research and evidence-based data about the harms of hitting children, for punishment, is real and overwhelming. This interactive webinar will address:

• The need and critical importance for ending spanking and other forms of physical punishment. 

• Interventions and strategies that can be implemented to reduce the use of physical punishment. Examples of successful strategies include “No Hit Zones”.

Stacie LeBlanc, JD, MEd is the president of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), the co-founder of The UP Institute and a CAST instructor at Tulane University.  She founded the Audrey Hepburn (CARE) Center and is the former Executive Director of the New Orleans Children's Advocacy Center. Stacie served ten years as a felony child abuse prosecutor, has designed multiple prevention programs including Teens, Sex, and the Law; Dear Parents      and Painless Parenting.      She chairs the National No Hit Zone Committee. More about Atty. LeBlanc: CV, NoHitZones

The Mahoney Family Fund is honored to present two of the nation’s most respected experts on the prevention of child abuse. In this one-hour webinar, Catherine Taylor and Stacie LeBlanc will present evidence-based research on the ill effects of corporal punishment. They will guide discussion and provide tools for constructive discipline.

The evidence about the harms of hitting children for punishment is overwhelming, and the time to change these norms, at a societal level, is now. Progress will require collective efforts by adults and leaders in our national community.

This webinar will address:

1) The need for ending corporal punishment (CP); child health professionals’ attitudes about CP; key roles that professionals play in ending CP.

2) Clear developmental and age-appropriate alternatives to hitting/spanking; de-escalation strategies to prevent the hitting of children; interventions that can be implemented at various “spectrum of prevention” levels to reduce use of CP with emphasis on those that can be implemented broadly to shift population norms; examples of successful norms change; “No Hit Zones”.

Catherine Taylor, PhD, LCSW, MPH, is a Professor in the Boston College School of Social Work. Her research agenda is focused on the primary prevention of violence, especially violence that impacts children. More about Dr. Taylor: faculty, publications

Stacie S. LeBlanc, JD, MEd, is the Executive Director of the New Orleans Children’s Advocacy Center (NOCAC) and Audrey Hepburn CARE Center, non-profit programs of Children’s Hospital New Orleans that provide forensic exams for over 1,500 children annually. More about Atty. LeBlanc: CV, UpInstitute, NoHitZones

This important information is presented at no cost to participants. Join us.

Stress is alarmingly pervasive in daily life. We all need tools to deal with tension in healthy and productive ways. In this webinar, with Keynote Speaker Koa Goode, we’ll explore the lasting benefits of learning to walk a while in someone else’s shoes, of exercising compassion in our interactions with others. This is especially important with family members, including our children.  It’s easy to forget that kids have a wide range of feelings and stressors, just like adults.  Understanding developmental milestones from infants to teens helps us as parents, teachers and caregivers to create nurturing relationships with children.

Koa C. Goode is a Social Worker who has focused her 20-year career on supporting children and families. In 2020, Koa was recognized by the National Exchange Club for her commitment to child abuse prevention and for her work with families.  She is currently a Case Manager Supervisor at Greater Lawrence Community Action Council (GLCAC).

The mission of the Mahoney Family Fund is to mitigate abuse and violence within families and against children.  The seminar is presented by the Mahoney Family Fund in partnership with the GLCAC and Lowell City of Learning. 

The Greater Lawrence Community Action Council is the Mahoney Family Fund’s fiscal sponsor.

The Mahoney Family Fund raises both awareness and money for frontline organizations dealing with youth in crisis, trauma and violence. Past recipients include: United Teen Equality Center; Alternative House; Center for Hope and Healing; the Michael B. Christensen Center; Strongwater Farm; Tewksbury Police Department Domestic Violence Unit and Notre Dame Academy.

Register now at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkcO-rqDwuE9NC-Yp5exs1RjYYDD3abiq0

Please share this information with family, friends and colleagues.

For information please contact Mahoney Family Fund founder Maureen Mahoney at mahoney.maureen@gmail.com. 

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dr.HughRuthandJohnMahoney for weekly updates. 

This webinar is part of the Lowell Learning Festival https://lowellcityoflearning.org/